HOPE BEYOND CULTURE (9 OF 14)

Phil 3:20
20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
(NIV)

A commander called all of his company together and stood looking at the group of young recruits who for their first time was on an overseas voyage on their ship. Staring deeply into the eyes of these young sailors he said loudly:
"I want all of you men to remember for the first time in your lives that you are the foreigners. This is not your country or your culture. Now you are the minority. These are not your fellow citizens. They do not speak your language. They know nothing of your homeland except what they see in you."

As Christians we face a similar situation: Since our citizenship is in heaven, planet earth is really not our home. For us it is the foreign soil. We are the citizens of another realm. We belong to the Kingdom of God, and consequently we need to be on our best behavior. Otherwise people will get a distorted perception of what our homeland is really like. Our earthly culture is pagan to the core.

Let's not forget that God has left us here on purpose.
We are here to demonstrate what it's like to be a member of another country – to have a citizenship in another land – so that we might create a desire for others to emigrate.
How many people, through movies, books, television and personal experiences with Americans, have desired so much to emigrate to this land! People from this country have written home and said: "Surely this is the land of the brave and the home of the free! This is the land of great opportunities."

People are fighting to get across our borders to come in and take up residence in this country. We should create the same environment to encourage people to come and be a part of the Kingdom of God.

In I Peter 4:1-6, the Apostle Paul gives us orders, as Christian soldiers who are stationed on t ...

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